Mao
Member
Nicely done!! Things are really starting to get good out there now. I love hunting this time of the year. Keep smackin' the birds in the face!! :smiley_cowboy:
Matt
Active Member
Thank you very much! He is nearing retirement though! He just turned 6 this December! Jesse got to hunt with old Leo one time! Probably one of the best days of hunting I have ever witnessed in my life! It was jesse's first waterfowl hunt, I told him he might have been spoiled!
I told jesse to save this photo and put it on his wall, because hunts like this dont happen very often in Ohio! Bag included Mallards, blacks, ringers, pintails, goldeneyes, redheads and one lonesome ruddy! It was -25 with the windchill and like -4 without it! I got very lucky when I got Leo, he is a knucklehead a lot of the time, but one thing is for sure. He isnt afraid of cold water!
Dang, thats a heck of a lineup of birds! sounds like a day to remember. and ya i love labs, i keep asking dad to get a new one.
I was wondering how you've been doing Kaiser...nice lookin birds.
Didn't Leo have some pups a few years ago??? Do you have another dog lined up? I know that labs live around 12ish years...is 6 really retirement?
Didn't Leo have some pups a few years ago??? Do you have another dog lined up? I know that labs live around 12ish years...is 6 really retirement?
Well leo didnt have the pups, but he was the Stud!
Yes, labs do live to be ten quite often. Although Leo gets hunted pretty hard. Starting in December, Leo gets hunted about 4 days a week. Most guys wont take their dogs out in the weather Leos hunts in. In the picture above from when jesse came, Leo made 19 retrieves in water when it was -25. Cold weather and hunting in water is hard on a dog and takes some time off their lives! It puts age on them rather quickly! I dont wanna be sending a 9 y/o dog on a 100 yard retrieve in a lake with the temps being in the single digits! Then to turn around and have him do it again after he has been sitting and waiting for 30 minutes! YEsterday he made 6 back to back retrieves in the Tusc river Ranging from 20 yards to 70 yards. THe current was swift and there was ice chunks bouncing off his face as he was swimming to get them. IT amazes me how he will get one and then jump right back in to get another. After one, I would be done! HE is a good dog and deserves an relaxed retirement. I Will probably get a new pup in the next two years! He will still get to hunt in the early season, but I wont be asking him to get birds in weather like we are having now! I tell ya what, for a 6 y/o dog, he is still full of piss and vinegar and has all kinds of energy! Although, after a ahrd days hunt, he passes out in the vehicle. Something he never used to do. Between his age and the hard work, its catching up to him!
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rgecko23
*Supporting Member*
Matt
Active Member
All the pups turned out great! All good looknig dogs and very smart. I know multiple people who have them and 3 or 4 of them have them bell trained to go outside. Unfortunately I dont think a single one of Leos pups were purchased by hunters!